Nifty ends above 7,900-mark for 1st time; Sensex up 59 points

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex on Friday rose over 59 points to close at 26,419.55, near its record high, and the Nifty settled above the 7,900-mark for the first time, boosted by gains in banking and IT stocks on higher capital inflows.

The rally helped both Sensex and Nifty rise by over 1.5 percent this week, their second successive weekly gain.

The NSE Nifty barometer today rose 22.10 points, or 0.28 percent, to end above the 7,900-mark for the first time at 7,913.20 after software stocks led by Infosys surged. The Nifty also hit a new all-time intra-day peak of 7,929.05, surpassing its previous record of 7,922.70 hit on August 20.

The BSE 30-share barometer spurted 59.44 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 26,419.55, just missing previous record closing high of 26,420.67 reached on August 19. During Friday's session, it touched a high of 26,508.27.

Sustained money pumped into markets by foreign investors -the main market mover was seen across the board. FIIs bought shares worth net Rs 412.77 crores on Thursday as per provisional data from bourses.